Despite sanctions Russia continues to buy 4WD tactical Italian-made Iveco LMVs (Light Multirole Vehicle). They are currently being used in the conflict in Syria. Why is the West continuing to sell Russia vehicles that do not feature dual capabilities, but are instead exclusively used for military purposes? RBTH decided to investigate.

There are many photographs on the internet showing Russian soldiers in Syria next to an Iveco LMV. The Italian armored car can be seen on the runway at Khmeimim Air Base, among military convoys on Syria's roads and even as part of the escort for Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft weapon systems. Soldiers from the Syrian armed forces also like having their photos taken in front of it.

The adventures of Italian vehicles in Russia

The Iveco LMV, along with its adopted name Lince (Lynx, 'Rys'), have acquired a very mixed reputation in Russia and are closely associated with the unpopular former Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov. After being dismissed, Serdyukov was implicated in a corruption scheme and came to be criticized by the military for his poorly conceived and radical reforms, as well as his “Westernization” drive in military equipment procurement. As a result of his actions, the Russian armed forces possess Israeli drones and Italian armored cars; the former minister of defense is also responsible for the infamous contracts to buy Mistral helicopter carriers from France. The Italians, as has recently been shown, are seemingly more consistent in their foreign policy than the French. The Iveco supply contract, which initially appeared to be highly problematic, ultimately outlived all other procurement initiatives from Serdyukov’s tenure.The story continues

The sale of the Iveco LMV armored cars were not hindered by Western sanctions, which prohibited the supply of not only Russian military equipment, but also dual-use technologies. This is because the contract for the sale of these vehicles was signed before the introduction of the sanctions, therefore they are not covered by them.

The vehicles are being purchased by a company called Garnizon, which was previously known as Oboronservis, but changed its name following the corruption scandal associated with the dismissal of Serdyukov. According to the company's annual report for last year, 81 Lynx assembly kits were imported into Russia in 2014 and another 94 were due to be delivered in 2015.

In 2015, according to tender documents published on electronic platforms, Russia's defense forces should receive 356 LMVs between mid-2015 and mid-2016.

All of the assembled vehicles go to one of the Ministry of Defense's reserve pools, from where some of the vehicles apparently have ended up in Syria. Their unsuitability there for washed-out or snow-covered roads is less of a factor, but their advantages – such as offering good protection for crews against roadside land mines – are very much in demand.

Despite sanctions Russia continues to buy 4WD tactical Italian-made Iveco LMVs (Light Multirole Vehicle). They are currently being used in the conflict in Syria. Why is the West continuing to sell Russia vehicles that do not feature dual capabilities, but are instead exclusively used for military purposes? RBTH decided to investigate.

There are many photographs on the internet showing Russian soldiers in Syria next to an Iveco LMV. The Italian armored car can be seen on the runway at Khmeimim Air Base, among military convoys on Syria's roads and even as part of the escort for Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft weapon systems. Soldiers from the Syrian armed forces also like having their photos taken in front of it.

The adventures of Italian vehicles in Russia

The Iveco LMV, along with its adopted name Lince (Lynx, 'Rys'), have acquired a very mixed reputation in Russia and are closely associated with the unpopular former Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov. After being dismissed, Serdyukov was implicated in a corruption scheme and came to be criticized by the military for his poorly conceived and radical reforms, as well as his “Westernization” drive in military equipment procurement. As a result of his actions, the Russian armed forces possess Israeli drones and Italian armored cars; the former minister of defense is also responsible for the infamous contracts to buy Mistral helicopter carriers from France. The Italians, as has recently been shown, are seemingly more consistent in their foreign policy than the French. The Iveco supply contract, which initially appeared to be highly problematic, ultimately outlived all other procurement initiatives from Serdyukov’s tenure.The story continues

The sale of the Iveco LMV armored cars were not hindered by Western sanctions, which prohibited the supply of not only Russian military equipment, but also dual-use technologies. This is because the contract for the sale of these vehicles was signed before the introduction of the sanctions, therefore they are not covered by them.

The vehicles are being purchased by a company called Garnizon, which was previously known as Oboronservis, but changed its name following the corruption scandal associated with the dismissal of Serdyukov. According to the company's annual report for last year, 81 Lynx assembly kits were imported into Russia in 2014 and another 94 were due to be delivered in 2015.

In 2015, according to tender documents published on electronic platforms, Russia's defense forces should receive 356 LMVs between mid-2015 and mid-2016.

All of the assembled vehicles go to one of the Ministry of Defense's reserve pools, from where some of the vehicles apparently have ended up in Syria. Their unsuitability there for washed-out or snow-covered roads is less of a factor, but their advantages – such as offering good protection for crews against roadside land mines – are very much in demand.

Wait... havent these deliveries being halted when Tigr entered mass production and original contract for 350+ Ivecos was completed in mid 2014. Russians even gave away some of them to Syrians which looks like they are trying to get rid of them. This article does not make much sense to me to be honest.

"Oleg Bochkarev, deputy chairman of the Russian Military-Industrial Commission, told the news agency that Moscow does not plan more output of the Italian-licensed light multipurpose vehicles for the Ministry of Defence. "We have declined further production of these vehicles, and under current conditions this would generally be, I think, impossible," he said." - 12 November 2014

"In 2015, according to tender documents published on electronic platforms, Russia's defense forces should receive 356 LMVs between mid-2015 and mid-2016." - id like to see this document if someone spots it share with us.

Either way it does not hurt to have a reserve of vehicles with such capabilities for use in places where their problems are minimised.

They would be rather useful in places like Syria, and indeed Iraq.

Another option would be to sell any remaining vehicles to Iran... I am sure they could use them too... but if the Syrians find them useful then it makes sense to send as many as needed there... there is no point in splitting them up into small batches as that will make spares support more complicated...

They weren't bad vehicles and likely were very useful as an example to Russian vehicle developers... even if there are ideas they can't use it is useful to see different solutions to problems and be able to test how they perform.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Τoday [3 May 2016] in Rostov-on-Don Parade rehearsal on occasion of Victory Day was first demonstrated armored vehicles "Lynx" [Iveco LMV]. These armored cars are in service with 22-th Guards special purpose brigade stationed near Rostov-on-Don.

I dunno why they bother to keep that piece of shit. Just give it to Novorussian forces or Syrian forces and be done with it, and continue to make Tiger's. Another curse from the fifth columnists in Russia.

sepheronx wrote:I dunno why they bother to keep that piece of shit. Just give it to Novorussian forces or Syrian forces and be done with it, and continue to make Tiger's. Another curse from the fifth columnists in Russia.

Well vehicles are new, they have certain amount of spares... i guess thats the logic behind keeping them. Also they might be waiting for bigger numbers of Tigr-M and later Volk to come. You are aware that Russians lack thousands of vehicles like this in their armed force still, despite fairly decent inflow during last 3-4 years.

The LMV is not a bad vehicle. Yes it has flaws and yes it was still paid a lot (not as much as some others but you get the point). But it's still a good pick. It could be worse it could be a RDT Sherpa...

LMV has much better armor than Tiger. Downside is poor off-road performance (notice the winches on those pics).

That is why they give them to spec-ops, they would more often than not operate in urban environments. Also why they are used in Syria, no mud in the desert and Italians already gave them a good field test in Afghanistan.

Volk is still not in production, Kamaz is dragging their ass with replacing Cummings engines with locals on that Typhoon 4x4 and there are really a lot of LMVs in stock so they might as well use what they have since they do not have any local equivalents.

PapaDragon wrote:LMV has much better armor than Tiger. Downside is poor off-road performance (notice the winches on those pics).

That is why they give them to spec-ops, they would more often than not operate in urban environments. Also why they are used in Syria, no mud in the desert and Italians already gave them a good field test in Afghanistan.

Volk is still not in production, Kamaz is dragging their ass with replacing Cummings engines with locals on that Typhoon 4x4 and there are really a lot of LMVs in stock so they might as well use what they have since they do not have any local equivalents.

PapaDragon wrote:LMV has much better armor than Tiger. Downside is poor off-road performance (notice the winches on those pics).

That is why they give them to spec-ops, they would more often than not operate in urban environments. Also why they are used in Syria, no mud in the desert and Italians already gave them a good field test in Afghanistan.

Volk is still not in production, Kamaz is dragging their ass with replacing Cummings engines with locals on that Typhoon 4x4 and there are really a lot of LMVs in stock so they might as well use what they have since they do not have any local equivalents.

Barely better protection when it comes to the core business.

Protection in terms of firearms and shrapnels is similar. However Tigr has quite poor mine/IED protection, and that is where LMV shines.

The latest modifications of Russian-made Tigr all-terrain armored combat vehicle recently underwent a series of trials at the Arzamas Machinery Plant testing range.

The Gaz-2330 Tigr (Tiger) is a family of Russian off-road vehicles, developed in the early 2000s and put into production in early 2004 at the Arzamas Machinery Plant, part of the Military-Industrial Company (VPK LLC). The vehicle is produced in a variety of configurations, and is available for both civilian and military use.